Trump Team Wants Probe of Afghanistan Withdrawal
(US Marine Corps photo by Staff Sgt. Victor Mancilla)
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President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team is considering creating a commission to investigate the 2021 US military withdrawal from Afghanistan, reports NBC News. A list is being compiled of current and former military officers who were directly involved in the withdrawal. Possible court-martials are being studied. An independent review by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction blamed both the Trump and Biden administrations for the chaotic US withdrawal in 2021, AP News reported in 2022.
The Trump transition team is also drawing up list of Pentagon officers to fire, reports The Daily Beast via MSN. This could include members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Mixed reactions continue to greet some of Trump’s cabinet choices. Among them are Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) to be the US attorney general. If confirmed, Gaetz would take over the nation’s top law enforcement agency – the same one that pursued a yearslong sex-crimes investigation into the congressman, reports CNN. DOJ ultimately decided last year not to pursue criminal charges against him.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was picked to be the next secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, reports BBC. His selection is not without controversy. Senate Democrats criticized the decision, with Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) dismissing Kennedy as a “fringe conspiracy theorist” and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) condemning his “outlandish views on basic scientific facts,” reports The Washington Post. Colorado’s Gov. Jared Polis (D) who wrote on X that he was “excited” about Kennedy’s pledges to combat chemicals in Americans’ food and the power of the pharmaceutical industry, and his commitment to other health priorities that cross party lines, reports The Colorado Sun.
Trump wants North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, a one-time rival for the Republican presidential nomination, to run the Interior Department, reports Politico. Chris Wright, CEO of Liberty Energy, is the choice for energy secretary in Trump’s second administration, reports AP News. Wright is an advocate of oil and gas development, including fracking. As of Sunday morning, there had been no announcement of who was being tapped for commerce secretary. These roles are expected to be key to Trump’s campaign promises to ramp up oil and gas production and cut US energy costs in half, according to Politico.
Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA) is Trump’s choice to lead Veterans Affairs, reports The Hill. Collins, a chaplain in the Air Force Reserve and a lawyer by trade, was a member of Congress from 2013 to 2021.
Trump is planning to kill the $7,500 consumer tax credit for electric-vehicle purchases as part of broader tax-reform legislation, reports Reuters via MSN. Elon Musk, a key ally of the president-elect and founder of EV manufacturer Tesla, supports the plan, reports Business Insider. Tesla stands to benefit from the removal of the tax credits on EV purchases, while the move could hurt competitors more, CEO Musk said.
Republicans will hold on to their majority in the US House of Representatives and regain control of the Senate when Congress convenes in January, setting the party up to potentially make major policy changes during the next two years, reports Maryland Matters.
The FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said Thursday that their ongoing probe into China-backed actors’ attempts to hack into US telecommunications infrastructure revealed a “broad and significant” espionage campaign targeted at those in government or political work, reports The Hill.
More than 20 reports of unidentified anomalous phenomena — “UFOs,” in layman’s terms — made over the past year have stumped the Defense Department and “merit further analysis,” reports New York Post. DoD’s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office’s released the 2024 Consolidated Annual Report on UAP, which covered the period May 1, 2023, to June 1, 2024.
Suicide rates across the active-duty military have increased gradually, but steadily since 2011, reports Task & Purpose. The Pentagon’s 2023 review of suicides across the military was released Thursday.
Norwegian defense firm Kongsberg has been awarded a five-year contract from the US Navy worth around $900 million to supply anti-ship missiles, in what the company says is its biggest missile contract ever, reports Navy Times. The company will provide its Naval Strike Missile, which is being installed on the Navy’s Littoral Combat Ships and Constellation-class frigates.
The 2024 Maryland Manufacturing Celebration of Stars, an RMI of Maryland and Maryland MEP program, recognized “Maryland Manufacturing Stars” – more than 100 people who work in business, education, government, or nonprofits who have made meaningful contributions to the state’s manufacturing industry. The event was held Thursday in Baltimore, and four local people were among those honored: Kurt Parsons of Platform Aerospace, Scott Sanders of Tobacco Barn Distillery, Bonnie Kelly of the Dr. James A. Forrest Career & Technology Center, and Wynne Briscoe of the Maryland Small Business Development Center.
Just in time for Thanksgiving, the St. Mary’s Around the World series is highlighting WJ Dent & Sons in Tall Timbers, MD, and its famous Southern Maryland stuffed ham. WJ Dent & Sons ships the ham, 52 weeks a year, across the US to locations as far away as Alaska. The St. Mary’s County Economic Development Department has created an interactive map that shares success stories from businesses around the county.
The Maryland Transportation Authority is considering new options for the existing Chesapeake Bay Bridge, reports The Baltimore Sun. Proposed are new spans, all of which would include adding more lanes, as well as improvements to bus service. The new crossings could be slightly north or south of the current structure, or one span could be between the existing spans.
Morgan State University will receive a $5 million investment from the US Department of Education to “strengthen the university’s research capacity to better serve its students, faculty, the Baltimore community, and the nation,” reports WBFF Baltimore. According to a statement from Sen. Chris Van Hollen’s office, Morgan State is currently classified as a “high research activity status” (R2) university by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education; this funding will support the university’s efforts to achieve the Carnegie classification of “very high research activity status,” (R1), by 2030.
Sports betting in Maryland generated more than $593 million in October 2024, reports BBS News. Of that, $7 million will be contributed to the state, according to Maryland Lottery and Gaming.
With Americans donating around $560 billion to charity per year, the personal-finance website WalletHub released its report on the Most Charitable States to highlight where people spend the most time and money helping others. Maryland ranked sixth. WalletHub also released a Charity Calculator to help donors decide where and how to give.
Contracts:
Epsilon C5I Inc., San Diego, California (N68936D25D0004); KBR Wyle Services LLC, Lexington Park, Maryland (N6893625D0005); Toyon Research Corp., Goleta, California (N6893625D0006); and Booz Allen Hamilton, McLean, Virginia (N6893625D0007), are awarded an $89,802,888 cost-plus-fixed-fee, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract. This multiple award contract extends the evaluation and analysis of alternatives and initial engineering design to operational deployment of systems that provide image intelligence, communications intelligence, signal intelligence, and/or measurement and signature intelligence capabilities and services to the warfighter. Additionally, this effort provides research, development, testing and evaluation, technical assistance and systems engineering in the development, testing, and fielding of future intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, and targeting systems in support of the Navy. Work will be performed in San Diego, California (23%); Lexington Park, Maryland (23%); Goleta California (23%); McLean, Virginia (23%); and China Lake, California (8%), and is expected to be completed in November 2029. No funds will be obligated at the time of award; funds will be obligated on individual orders as they are issued. This contract was competed on a full and open basis with five offers received. Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division, China Lake, California, is the contracting activity.
Delta Resources Inc., Washington, DC (FA8075-25-D-0014); General Dynamics Information Technology Inc., Falls Church, Virginia (FA8075-25-D-0015); and Modern Technology Solutions Inc., Alexandria, Virginia (FA8075-25-D-0016), are being awarded a maximum $33,164,000,000 ceiling, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, multiple award contract for research and development under Pool 1 of the Information Analysis Center multiple award contract. This contract provides for the Department of Defense Information Analysis Center, part of the Defense Technical Information Center, to support research and development across the Department of Defense. Work will be performed in various locations, determined at the individual task order level, and is expected to be completed Sept. 29, 2027. This contract was a competitive acquisition, and 13 offers were received. Fiscal 2024 and 2025 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $10,800 are being obligated at time of award. The 774th Enterprise Sourcing Squadron, Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, is the contracting activity.
NCR Government Systems LLC, Germantown, Maryland, was awarded a competitive, single award, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract. The total amount of all orders placed against this contract shall not exceed $335,000,000. The contract will provide the Defense Commissary Agency (DeCA) with an Enterprise Business Operations Systems Solution, supporting annual hardware and software renewal warranty and maintenance for previously purchased proprietary, commercial, off-the-shelf, brand name hardware and software already integrated within the DeCA infrastructure. The guaranteed minimum amount is $2,500 and will be satisfied through a task order award using fiscal 2024 defense working capital funds. Performance will be at the contractor’s facility as well as DeCA’s 240 commissaries worldwide. Proposals were solicited via SAM.gov and five proposals were received. The period of performance of this contract, which consists of a one-year base and four one-year options, is Nov. 12, 2024, to Nov. 11, 2029. The Defense Information Technology Contracting Organization, Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, is the contracting activity (HC108425D0001).
Mantech Advanced Systems International Inc., Herndon, Virginia, has been awarded a $47,824,625 modification (P00149) to a previously awarded contract (FA8819-18-C-1001) to exercise Option Year Six for specialized acquisition and operations security services. The modification brings the total cumulative face value of the contract to $290,132,531 from $242,307,906. Work will be performed at Los Angeles Air Force Base, California; Vandenberg Space Force Base, California; Peterson SFB, Colorado; and Schriever SFB, Colorado, and is expected to be completed Nov. 16, 2025. Fiscal 2024 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $6,873,109; fiscal 2025 operation and maintenance funds in the amount of $7,339,859; fiscal 2025 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $1,035,213; and fiscal 2025 procurement funds in the amount of $632,089, are being obligated at time of award. The Space Systems Command, Los Angeles AFB, El Segundo, California, is the contracting activity.
CORRECTION: The announcement posted on Nov. 13, 2024, about the $50,271,379 Cognito Systems LLC, Newport News, Virginia, contract had the wrong contract number. The announcement has been corrected on Defense.gov.
